In fact, don't expect Rayvon, a Birmingham resident, to talk a lot about his dad, who's fairly famous in singer-songwriter circles. Bad blood? Hardly. There's plenty of affection in the Pettis family, including sister Grace, who's also a singer-songwriter.

This Pettis, 27, simply is his own man. With his own songs. And he plays them in area nightclubs, mining his own vein of indie country and Americana.

"My dad didn't want me to go into music, out of the love of his own heart," says Pettis, a captain in the U.S. Army National Guard. "And I didn't want to do what my father did. I only started in music two years ago, when I returned from Afghanistan."

Rayvon Pettis, right, and Jerrod Atkins want their music to have memorable lyrics and arresting character. (Tamika Moore | tmoore@al.com)

He started playing here, mostly solo, at Gable Square Saloon & Games on Ninth Court South. That was his training camp, Pettis says, for about a year.

"Gable's is a little rough around the edges," Pettis says, "but people would listen to what you were doing."

Pettis also has a history with the bands Red Mountain and Liddy Rose. About a month ago, he joined forces with multi-instrumentalist Jerrod Atkins, 26, whom Pettis had seen busking at the fountain in Five Points South.

The two bonded over Atkins' fondness for traditional Delta and Memphis blues. They compared influences, became friends and, soon enough, decided to book some shows as duet partners. (Look for them March 5 at Go Bar in Athens, Ga. Locally, they're playing March 15 at The Forge, March 22 at The Metro Bar and April 24 at The Nick, according to Pettis' schedule on Bandcamp.)

Pettis released a self-titled EP in October, and has about a dozen songs to his credit. Atkins, meanwhile, plays in his own band, the Steel City Jug Slammers.

"I want to have a sound that's passionate and shows who we were are," Pettis says. "It's not afraid to be from Alabama, but also isn't afraid to be a little weird."

The Birmingham Sessions, an online showcase for local and regional musicians, is produced by The Birmingham News and AL.com. Videos in the series take place backstage at Bottletree, an Avondale concert venue.